


A Whisper

by orphan_account



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death from Old Age, Established Relationship, M/M, Old Age, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Bond does not go out with a bang, but rather with a whisper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Whisper

            James Bond does not go out with a bang, but rather with a whisper.

 

~

 

            Bond retires by age fifty. He's forced to because every agent must retire by that age. No longer fit for field duty as was claimed. It was an utter load of bullshit.

 

~

 

            He and Q already lived together, had been for years, so there was none of that awkwardness of Bond moving in and settling down.

            At first Bond gets up every morning at the time he normally would and gets ready as usual before remembering that he no longer has a job. He generally returns to bed in his suit, not caring if it gets wrinkled. He's passed caring at this point.

 

~

 

            Life is so tedious now for James. It's the same thing in and out every day and he loathed it. He would rather be chasing terrorists across countries nobody had ever heard of and take them out only to discover that there were much bigger fish to fry which would lead him on a chase spanning possibly several countries. At least that was exciting.

            According to Bond, he could continue doing his job until he dropped dead and Q thought that he would be much happier that way. He knew James, knew that a simple life wasn't for him. He was too used to the chase.

 

~

 

            It's a year after he retires that his eyesight starts to go. Q notices it immediately. Bond starts squinting and rubbing his eyes as if to clear a fog that is hanging over them. It takes three months of frustration before the former agent agrees to go to an eye doctor.

            As expected, Bond needed glasses. He actually looked quite fetching in them.

 

~

 

            When Q turns forty the second year into James' retirement, Bond gets him an 'Over the Hill' mug. They laugh about it and Bond says that Q can no longer call him an old man now that Q was considered one himself. Q smiles warmly and kisses him.

 

~

 

            "I found a white hair," Q mumbles when he and Bond are lounging on the couch one day, three years into the agent's retirement.

            "Well yes Q, I did assume that they would appear eventually," Bond says sardonically. He's about to continue when he notices the look on Q's face. The Quartermaster is frowning down at the hair and Bond knows why. It's a sign of Bond's age; that he's getting old.

            "Looks like I have something new to make fun of now," Q speaks up after a moment, the frown forming into a forced smile. Bond says nothing and just smiles back.

 

~

            "So what's he like?" Bond asks a few months later when Q walks through the door to their small flat.

            "He reminds me of you a bit," the Quartermaster smiles and takes a seat next to James.

            "Oh?"

            "Yes, stubborn as hell." Bond smirks at that. "And extremely over confident."

            "You thought I was over confident?"

            "Still are," Q jokes.

            "Oh yes, because you would know nothing about over confidence, would you?"

            "I'm not sure what you mean, 007." A silence hung in the air as what Q said sunk in. It was a slip of the tongue really. An old habit that Q had managed to keep in check until just now; James wasn’t 007, not anymore and he never would be again. It was the sad truth.

            The two burst into a fit of laughter when they made eye contact however, the awkward air dispersing but there remained a sadness in Q’s eyes as well as in Bond’s.

 

~

 

            Q hates watching James get old. Bond is still as active as ever, but Q noticed the signs of Bond beginning to slow down. They were subtle but the Quartermaster noticed.

            He saw it in the way James lost his breath a few seconds earlier than he normally would, how the man who originally insisted on going to the gym every other day to keep in shape now went maybe once or twice a week. He had even noticed that physically, James was getting weaker. It wasn't unusual; it was common when people got older. The only difference was that this was James Bond and he was supposed to be invincible.

 

~

 

            When Q is working, he can forget about James getting older. It's like an escape and he can just let go. The new Double-O's don't cause him as much grief as Bond ever did and in a way, Q finds himself missing that annoyance. He misses James never returning the equipment in one piece, he misses helping the man navigate through some terrorist base while the two exchanged banter. He also misses the workplace flirting.

            The job is just a job now and Q finds himself simply going through the motions despite work being his retreat from the harsh reality that James Bond is getting old and one day he will die.

            Q clenches his jaw and blinks back tears at the thought of losing James.

 

~

 

            When James is sixty, he and Q buy a secluded vacation home in Scotland. They don’t go up there until James is sixty-four though. They most likely never would have gone if Mallory hadn’t forced Q into taking some time off.

            Q had his suspicions that Bond was behind Mallory demanding Q take a vacation but he didn’t push the matter and happily drove to Scotland to spend a month in the Scottish Highlands with his husband.

            He rather enjoyed the peace and quiet actually, though the Quartermaster had this constant nagging feeling that something was going wrong at Q Branch. James had to reassure him many times that the interns would not destroy Q Branch and that they would be fine without their Quartermaster for a month. It didn’t stop Q from worrying.

            The feeling subsided slightly after much reassuring and four phone calls to MI6.

 

~

 

            “I was thinking that we should take a walk into town,” Q says two weeks into their vacation. He and James were sat outside on the patio, Q overlooking the Highlands and James sitting near the door in a lawn chair. When there was no answer, Q looked over his shoulder at his husband who was slumped slightly in the chair.

            “James?” Q says; his voice full of worry. Oh God, this could not be happening. “James?” He gets closer to Bond and stands there for a moment, the ex-agent isn’t moving or responding in any way and his chest is still. Q is close to letting out a sob when:

            “Boo!” Q jumps back with a yell when James suddenly shouts.

            “Agh! Don’t do that you arse!” James is laughing so hard that he’s close to tears. “I think I might kill you before age does.”

            “Oh calm down Q, I was just having some fun.”

            “Pretending to be dead isn’t fun James,” Q complained.

            “Come here,” Bond says, opening his arms. Q gladly cuddles up on Bond’s lap and the older man wraps his arms around him tightly. “Sorry.”

            “It’s fine, I’m just afraid of losing you.”

            “Let’s not think about that right now, okay?”

            “Okay,” Q mumbles softly.

            “I love you.”

            “I love you too.”

            “Now, you said something about taking a walk into town?”

 

~

 

            James’ health really begins deteriorating when he’s eighty-two years old. It’s longer than he ever imagined he’d live till. He spends most of his time in bed, not having the motivation to get up and move around because he’s weak and tired and doesn’t have the energy anymore.

            Q takes time off from work and they go to Scotland again where they stay for the remainder of James’ days.

            They stay up as late as possible and talk for hours about everything and nothing. They laugh and reminisce about when they were young. It’s sentimental and like something out of a romance movie which they joke about at some point.

            “You never told me your real name.”

            “I’m sure you saw it on our marriage certificate.”

            “I never looked,” James says.

            “Why?”

            “I wanted you to tell me when you were ready. If I knew your name, do you think I’d be calling you Q all the time?”

            “I suppose you do have a point. My name is Andrew.” James smiles at the name.

            “Andrew, it fits you nicely.”

            “Thank you, James. I love you.”

            “I love you too, Andrew,” James whispers before falling asleep. He doesn’t wake up.

 

~

 

            So James Bond does not go out with a bang, but with a whisper.

**Author's Note:**

> ~I have no idea what possessed me to write this. I apologize for any feels I caused.


End file.
